Slashdot Mirror
SquareSoft to Develop for Nintendo Again
magicsquid writes: "GameSpot is carrying the news that Square has finally returned to Nintendo systems after a 5 year absence. This brings with it the knowledge that Final Fantasy XI will truly be playable on every console as well as PC to be uniquely massively multi-player." Planet Gamecube has a similar story.
Neither company has affirmed the port status of FFXI. It's almost a sure thing, but it's *not* confirmed.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
Though some might say that Square is just turning out regurgitated crapola with the FF series (we won't mention Chrono Cross, PLEASE no...) it'll be a welcome change from PSO as the only MMORPG on a console.
Also, this does open up the ability for Square to bring in the old FF games... and.. mm, ChronoTrigger for GBA anyone? *drool*
Really, the argument between GCN and Xbox owners just got a little more one-sided with this announcement...
Squaresoft/Nintendo was one of the biggest juggernauts of my childhood, and I'm very happy to see them in the same bed again. The two work together perfectly, and it just seems to flow wonderfully.
Not to disparage FF VII-X, but there was always something missing, on a PlayStation...
When encryption is outlawed, ?o'AZ-,++o+i++##4AoA+-/-C++bI+/.+~
WTF took them so long. Yeah screw karma I gots 50. Now my GameCube 0wnz all j00 who spent 100$ extra on a PS2 for nothing. No matter what you say.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
For those that don't know the backhistory, Square left Nintendo when the N64 went from a CD-based system to a cartridge-based. This was after Square had pledged their support, which was bad enough. Worse still, Square then went to other developers such as Enix(Dragon Warrior games), and convinced them to switch to the PSX as well.
The feud has finally ended, and it's a complete surprise. Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo, is not the type to give in. No one's saying he did, but this announcement at least shows the guy can put business sense ahead of personal feelings. That's a revelation most in the industry would have strongly denied before today.
I purchased a Gamecube for my girlfriend this past Valentine's Day. The console has been out since before Christmas, and so far, the title selection is to say the least, poor.
There's in the neighborhood of 10 titles for the GC, and while some of them are gems (Super Smash Bros.), over all, they are relatively lackluster. Sega has developed for them, but not even they can provide a must-have title.
Enter SquareSoft. Any platform they touch these days will probably experience Square's huge following buying power. I think a lot of Nintendo's decline is a result of losing SquareSoft's contributions.
So maybe this will give Nintendo a huge boost. Why is that important? Aside from the argument of "yea, we need more competition," Nintendo is truly an "honorable player" in this market. They may have relatively shitty licensing tactics (everyone does), but over all, Nintendo demands an extremely high level of quality for their software. The titles, regardless of fun factor, are always extremely well polished. You don't always get that on all the other platforms.
Maybe Square will be able to give us die-hard Nintendo fans something to be truly proud of our platform for.
Why bother.
I stopped playing FF after they stopped making it for Nintendo consoles. I hated the PSO, I have a PS2 and GCN. I didn't play FFX for PS2. A friend got it and he said it's pretty much the same stuff. Nothing special. (Well, except for the graphics of course) Maybe now that they're developing for Nintendo again, they'll put a little more effort into the gameplay/storyline? I'd take FFIII on SNES over FFX on PS2 anyday! :)
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
Personally, I've found that the FF series is probably the only reason I would plunk down cash for a PS2. Now that I'll be able to play Mario, Zelda, and FF on the same system again, the Gamecube is the only way I would possibly go.
... then it would be gaming nirvana.
The one move that would make this perfect, IMO, would be if they would go back and bring the rest of the Final Fantasy series over to the
When encryption is outlawed, ?o'AZ-,++o+i++##4AoA+-/-C++bI+/.+~
Wasn't it Yamauchi himself who said not so long ago, that essentially, after Square left Nintendo for Sony, that Square would be allowed to develop for Nintendo platforms again, over his dead body?
There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
My mistake. They have promised a modem add-on and a NIC add-on. History has shown that peripherals don't succeed in general, although if FFXI is potentially the "killer app" that could move them. The problem exists for the PS2, of course.
Square basically stabbed Nintendo in the back, telling game makers not to develop for the N64. It is my understanding this is why Enix didn't release an N64 RPG. Square publically apologized for this last year, for exactly that reason.
It's because of this, Yamamuchi's attitude was basically "We don't need Square. They need us. They lost money on the FF movie, and developing only for the Playstation won't make enough money to make up for that.".. or something along those lines. He didn't feel that Nintendo needed Square to be big, but Square needed Nintendo in order to get back in the black.
I have to admit, I'm surprised Yamamuchi is putting money into Square for this project. The only thing I can think of is that Square has something up their sleeve to make the Game Cube and the Game Boy Advance pair together. Square is an ambitious enough company that I wouldn't be surprised at all if they came up with an FF game for both GB and GC that can be played seperately, but when put together it brings a lot more.
Imagine if the GameCube version was the full plot, battles, etc, but the GBA version was for training your characters and improving their skills. Or maybe something even more sophisticated like the GBA version is a stripped down version of the game. Like you play it on the Game Cube, then you stop and save your progress to the GBA version, then you can continue the adventure on the road.
Man... if they did that, that'd be killer.
"Derp de derp."
Excuse me, what was that you said? I couldn't hear you since I have my Grand Theft Auto 3, Metal Gear Solid 2, and my non vaporware Final Fantasy X games stuck in my ears.
If they don't release a single new game for PS2, I still feel I got my money's worth out of those three games..
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
Now that will be truly impressive. The MMORPG has really caught on, and really has suffered no limitations. Combine that with the incredible success fo the FF series, which has led to some people purchasing game systems solely for that game, and you have something unbelievable. Combine THAT with the top four gaming platforms and you have a virtually guaranteed cash cow. If they can pull this off with the quality of an EQ or DAoC, Square will be able to afford another bomb, er... movie.
(Invidentally, I really enjoyed the FF movie. It's just too bad that nobody else did.)
-- Minds are like parachutes... they work best when open.
If Chrono Trigger, FF2 and FF3 (oh sorry I meant FF4 and FF6) were to come out on the Gameboy advance, I would be forced to purchase one.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
There was definitely secret money involved when Squaresoft abandoned Nintendo for Sony and the PS.
The official argument was that their games would not fit on cartridges, so they chose a CD-based console. But why did they choose the PlayStation? Why not Sega's Saturn? At that time, every other newcomer console had failed, why would Sony's be any different? Sega was quite well established in the console business at the time, Sony was not, everything indicated that Saturn would make a success.
I do smell conspiracy...They have promised a modem add-on and a NIC add-on.
They have also "promised" a CD-ROM drive for Super NES (which eventually became the PSone) and a Zip-like drive for N64 (the 64DD, which never hit U.S. shores). The general rule for U.S. Nintendo console accessories: If it plugs into the expansion port on the bottom of the system, it'll be delayed, delayed, delayed, until it's cancelled.
Will I retire or break 10K?
While it is possible that Nintendo would have the Gamecube modem and broadband adapter ready in time for a MMORPG Final Fantasy Game, this seems far more likely as just the other day Miyamoto was talking was talking about the problems with online console gaming. Personally, I would rather have a great, offline RPG that can compete with the goodness of FF4-6 than something I have that requires me to shell out a lot more money for hardware (hence the $199 GCN in the first place :)
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith
I'm still waiting for a PC port of FFIX. I doubt that it will ever be made, though.
I personally would like to see a Secret of Mana sequel on Gamecube.
FF is a great series but secret of mana sure is fun too. Especially if they beefed up the mutliplayer support some more.
I've got a translated rom of SOM2 for an SNES emulator and it's great fun. I can't believe they never released it here. I guess they didn't have the time or resources to put into it.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Meanwhile, that other console, the Xbox, with built-in broadband, hard drive, and superior graphics, and so ideally suited for FF series, gets no announcement. Square is really hurting for money, but I always understood that they did not support other consoles due to Sony part-ownership and pressure. The fact that they're willing to now release for GameCube appears to be _negative_ news for the GC console to me, as it means that Sony downgraded the threat that GC can cause to it, while Xbox's still remains high.
Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
Nintendo has done more than their share of backstabbing too, and they've caused most of their own problems. First they backstabbed Sony with the N64 CDROM deal. They backstabbed Square by refusing to move from the outmoded cartridge game format, keeping Square from being able to create Final Fantasy VII. (They started in this direction, see the Final Fantasy SGI demo. In the end, Square said they could have done FF7 for the N64, it just would have cost $7k for the cartridge.)
Thus the rise and domination of Sony. It's interesting to note that every platform Square has seriously developed for has been the dominant platform: NES, GameBoy, SNES, PlayStation, PS2.
Nintendo can say what they want, but after the fiasco that was the N64, and the pressure from Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo needs Square a lot more than they'll let on. Excluding Square is not really an option. They need third-party games; first-party games just aren't enough (as the N64 showed).
That said, I don't mean to imply I'm upset in any manner at this news. This is great! I've wanted to see Square and Nintendo get back together for awhile... I want to see Square stuff on my GBA, and getting a GCN I'd love to get Square games on that.
Plus, as history has shown (see: Dreamcast), Square leads the majority of buyers, and this is probably a nail in the coffin of the XBOX. ;-)
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Er, um, considering that there are plans for broadband and modem connections for the Gamecube (check those upgrade slots in the bottom), I think it's just as likely for a Gamecube Final Fantasy XI as a PS2 (since, unless you use a USB ethernet adapter, you haven't seen the PS2 broadband adapter yet either).
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Xbox, with built-in broadband, hard drive, and superior graphics, and so ideally suited for FF series, gets no announcement.
The Xbox lauch in Japan taked severly. The Xbox in Japan is a dead platform from the start, and Square isen't about to release somthing thay won't see the light of day in it's home market.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Between the fact that Xbox sold more in the first weekend of launch than Dreamcast did in its first week, and that Japan has sunk into its worst recession in decades, I think Xbox is doing allright in Japan. Not to mention that if Japanese companies only released products if they were sure they were going to be successful in their home market, they wouldn't be dominating US electronics market like they do. Being successful in the US is plenty enough of success.
Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
I suppose then that it would be appropriate to mention that Planet GameCube posted it FIRST. It wasn't a "similar" story. GameSpot posted it afterwords.
Damn, those kids move QUICK.
Sony has announced their PS2 modem, complete with specs, price, games, and other non-vaporous things. It will be available in AUGUST. Nintendo has announced their GameCube modem, but has yet to say anything about its specs, how it will work, what games will support it, or how much it will cost. Nintendo also has a history for announcing hardware, even giving it specific details, and then cancelling it.
;)
They've committed to making the modem and NIC add-ons, but that means that we'll see it, at minimum, in six months or more. It's also likely that we may never see it, which would match Nintendo's track record perfectly.
Your first post was actually more accurate than the second. Unless "Umm... we're working on it" (the classic Nintendo blow-off phrase) somehow means that they're deeply committed to making these add-ons.
FFX is selling very well, no doubt about it. That doesnt mean that the company is in great financial shape however.
Square was in *extreme* financial trouble after the flop of the FF Movie, they approached Sony themselves to be bailed out, and asked Sony to purchase a large of amount of their company (which Sony did).
They make very good games, but they seem to be managed by terrible businessmen, heck as we speak they are working on trying to set up *another* FF TV Series (hmm sound like the last TV flop, or maybe the movie?)
try reading this for a idea of how they are doing , or maybe try your own google searchs if you dont trust me.
The fact is that they are a company which got in so much financial trouble that they ASKED Sony to buy a large chunk of em, and even after Sony did so, they still need to find new ways of making money, and are willing to market their products to the competitiors of their parent company's product.
you do the math
I've been a dedicated Nintendo fan for a long time, after becoming hooked on their Square games - like Chrono Trigger and FF VI (III here in the US). When Square stopped developing for Nintendo, I was deeply saddened, and I've been waiting a long time for this moment.
But will this really be such a good thing? The N64 had almost no RPGs, and the Gamecube, while it seems to have some, doesn't have as many as it should. Even if Square starts developing for Nintendo, does this mean the GC will see more RPGs (the GBA, on the other hand, has plenty of good RPGs)? As well, maybe this is just my opinion, but the recent Square games have not been nearly as good as the older ones. Chrono Cross was far worse than Trigger, and the newer FFs seem to be more about graphics than storyline and good old fun, like the old ones. If Square does start making games for Nintendo, will they really be such good quality?
Dot? from animaniacs? she rocked! i'd play an RPG with the Warner brothers & sister.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
I dunno if I'd go as far as to say that Square was mismanaged. Square is a risktaker company. Their decision to move from Nintendo (been around a long time) to Sony (hadn't proven themselves yet) to try an ambitious new game (FF7) that merges real time graphics with a full motion background was very risky. Anybody remember Tobal #1? That was a very robust fighting game that not a lot of people knew about. Square done a ton of other games in a variety of genres, mostly in Japan I think, and they manage to come out ahead.
Square hedged their bets on the FF movie too. I think what they were hoping to do was define a new genre, i.e. total CG drama. If they stayed on top of that genre the way they did with RPG's, then they could really diversify their business and be very profitable.
But they blew it. Pity, I think a few more months of work could have really defined that new genre. Who knows...
You can't win every bet.
"Derp de derp."
"Meanwhile, that other console, the Xbox, with built-in broadband, hard drive, and superior graphics, and so ideally suited for FF series, gets no announcement"
Just to clarify, though the XBOX has broadband capability, it doesn't have a network. Nintendo could package a broadband adapter with a game if they really wanted to get it launched, and FF would be the best way to do it.
The graphics aren't that superior. They sound like they are on paper, but niether machine has decidedly proven that yet. Remember its artists that make graphics, not processors. I think Square could make a brilliant game on either machine.
I do agree with you, though, that the hard drive is exactly the type of feature that Square could make amazing use of. I don't see it happening though. If they are going to be the 'launch on all platforms' company, Final Fantasy won't be the game to do much with the HD. I think they could make either an exclusive FF game or a brand new game to use it, though...
"Derp de derp."
I just wanted to mention you might like FF3. It has a killer story. If you play the game to unfold the story, I think it'll easily make up for the 'walk a little bit... fight a monster... walk some more ... fight a monster' style of game play that FF games seem to have. hehe.
I really wish, though, that there was a cheat code i could put in the game to just watch the story unfold.
"Derp de derp."
It'll be interesting to see what they release on GBA. Most of the FF games have already been rereleased on PSX this past year. I couldn't imagine them rereleasing any earlier than FFIV. Chronotrigger on GBA would be kick ass though too.
Not every platform Square has developed for has become the dominant. Square did develop for the Wonderswan and Wonderswan Color in Japan. While it did reach a 30% marketshare, it still didn't compare to the GB's (who had basically the rest). This of course, happened after Square severed the relationship with Nintendo.
The ______ Agenda
It's interesting to see how Final Fantasy got started on Nintendo systems and will ultimately make a return appearance on a Nintendo system in its death knell.
I honestly can't see how Final Fantasy can survive FF XI. While other RPGs focus on nifty game play mecahnics (Chrono series) or an immersive universe (Dragon Quest/Warrior, Phantasy Star), Final Fantasy games really have only one thing to rely on: story. The games are so story-driven that you might as well be playing on rails. People sure as hell didn't play VIII for the unending GF sequences. They didn't play VII for the stale JPG backgrounds. They sure as hell aren't still playing because they love the random battle engine left over from the 8-bit days. People play Final Fantasy for the characters, story, and in recent years the cut-scenes.
So what in God's name makes them think they can translate any of this into an on-line game in any meaningful way? If half a million people are on the same quest of epic proportions, it ain't exactly epic any more. They can't make the entire game world on rails so there goes the concept of cut scenes. They can't just use the universe the game series is set in because there is next to nothing in common between any two Final Fantasy games.
I think Final Fantasy XI will end up being known as Square's version of Episode I.
This feud started with The Secret of Mana . Square, Nintendo, and Sony were teaming up to release the Secret of Mana as the killer app for the SNES CD. Sony then decided that they wanted to also release their own "playstation," which would play SNES CD's, and their own proprietary format. History can be found here. The contract did not forbid this, but forbid Nintendo from breaking out of the agreement. So, Nintendo started working with Phillips on another CD rom (compatible with the also doomed CDI), and announced that it would be the dominant CD format for the SNES. (See SCEE's Official Version. Also visible on www.scee.com, if you have IE and a patience with slow scrolling scripting. More history here.)
The history of that feud is probably only truly understood by lawyers, but it is clear that Square took a major hit in terms of profit when Nintendo abandoned the platform that Square had just geared up to and had developed their largest game to date for. I don't know who bore the brunt of costs for translating SOM to the SNES, but I'm sure it wasn't a happy meeting.
Let's also not forget that Nintendo decided not to release FF2 in the US thinking that it would be unprofitable, and made this decision after A: it had been translated and B: they had run an 8-page spread in Nintendo Power (check your backissues folks! There was a contest and everything.).
From there, Square naturally decided to follow the evolution of the SNES CD the Playstation, and break ties with the company that they had established an intimate relationship with. Ugliness followed.
That ugliness can be found elsewhere, I'm not here to tell you how it ends. I'm only here to show you the beginning.
The ______ Agenda
At the beginning of the N64's life, it was the console that was getting frickin insanely high bids on eBay, much as PS2 did some years later. So it wasn't doomed to fail from the get-go.
What turned it around, I'm certain, was Final Fantasy. That was a milestone in gaming for the PlayStation, and for a while, the definitive PlayStation game.
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
Please mod my parent post down. Way down. The people replying to it have successfully pulled GameCube broadband and dialup modems of their ass, and at a pretty damn reliable source (Nintendo.com). It leaves me wondering, though, why EGM, Extended Play, and various major gaming sites still keep repeating the old line of "Nintendo has yet to solidify its online plans" if these things have already been announced by Nintendo.
Jesus. You'd think that between reading EGM monthly, watching Extended Play weekly, and reading The Magic Box, Mad Man's Cafe, The GIA, d+pad, MegaTokyo, Lik Sang, and much more obscure sites every single day, I would've seen this thing by now. My apologies for adding to the bullshit in this round of comments.
I think the problem is more one of religious beliefs. "If I get revenge, I may not live, but God will accept me with open arms." Or maybe it's more of a "If I get revenge, I may not live, but people will remember my sacrifice forever."
Either way, bleh; this seems mildly OT for a thread about Square and Nintendo. Unless you're implying that Nintendo and Square deciding to work together's like Isreal & co. reconciling their differences..
"Sony has announced their PS2 modem, complete with specs, price, games, and other non-vaporous things. It will be available in AUGUST"
3.5 years after Dreamcasts came standard with modems. Sony's had no reason not to release them earlier than now. Lots of great DC games had online features which made them so much more fun to play, but we won't see those same features (especially the number of games supporting it) on other consoles for another couple of years still.
Thanks a lot, Sony.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Don't forget Eternal Darkness. I'm way more excited about that than about any Resident Evil game. The control scheme in RE is horrendous. No game made me want to break stuff more than RE2.
My other
Holy Shit.
Who are you, dude? You've just done something I've never seen before. You apologized for making a mistake on Slashdot. Most people don't have the balls to do that.
I'm impressed.
I thought I'd seen it all.
Don Negro
Perl 6 will give you the big knob. -- Larry Wall
. . .that they haven't evolved at all from the SNES days.
For the most part, I can see where you're coming from on this one. Story usually is given a backseat to graphics and gameplay, however there have been a few games that are definitely NOT like that.
Begin Rant Mode:
Xenogears, is in my opinion possibly the greatest RPG ever made. The game takes 60 hours to finish if you hurry, and most of that is story. Yeah, so it crams a bunch of story down your throat in the second disc. I would have loved to have played it out, too, but the story that you do go through is fantastic. And as far as depth goes, it's only in the last few hours that you finally figure out who you're even fighting and for most of the game, and you're continually finding out new aspects to a story that is more involved than any I've ever seen.
End Rant Mode:
But that's just me ranting because I don't have my PS with me and no time to invest in the game. Pick it up, if you have a week or so to blow, though. And maybe more people would have liked the FF movie if they had gotten the story from the guy that wrote Xenogears (and yes, I really liked the movie anyway.)
- Relativistic? That's barely Newtonian!
Well, considering Microsoft is actually launching their online service this summer, and every single one of their consoles will be able to use it without the need for peripherals, I would say that they are the closest in terms of having their own network. So, the customer base for any company that releases that first truly great network game for a console (arguably PSO may have already done this) includes every Xbox owner, not just those willing to buy additional products and the game all just to play a single game.
Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
I'm sure that if you're anything like I was about 4 years ago you aren't even reading this and if you are you're doing it from behind six feet of defenses.
Know that you know nothing and everything will begin to make sense.
Breathe out your past with every breath and breathe in the present.
Worry more about others than your self.
With the new, easy to get along with personality that has arisen from living this way I've found a group of people who I learn from and enjoy being with, not just showing off to. Several of us are working on an MMORPG in fact- using nevrax's libraries (nevrax.org).
I too dreamed of interacting in such an environment and such books as Ender's Game and later Snow Crash fueled that passion. There are many things I've thought I came up with only to find someone had already done it. I've learned not to let that get me down and instead take heart that my ideas were indeed workable and useful. I still hope to innovate, but thats not accomplished by working on recognition for ideas that are already disseminated. Put out your newest, edgiest, most likely to be wrong ones and you'll be contributing.
breathe,
~m
"Nintendo has announced their GameCube modem, but has yet to say anything about its specs,"
;)"
A 56k modem that plugs into one of the ports on the bottom, just like in the pictures on Nintendo's website. I believe the modem will have a black housing while the Ethernet adapter will have a white housing.
"what games will support it,"
Phantasy Star Online ver. 2 at the very least.
"Nintendo also has a history for announcing hardware, even giving it specific details, and then cancelling it."
In the US perhaps. The only thing I can think of that Nintendo talked about that didn't come about is the SNES CD drive (which mutated into the PlayStation and CD-I). Even the 64DD eventually came out.
"They've committed to making the modem and NIC add-ons, but that means that we'll see it, at minimum, in six months or more."
You're forgetting that Nintendo has a habit of keeping hush-hush about their projects until about three seconds before it launches. Look at how soon after we all first heard the phrase "GameCube" that it hit store shelves.
"Unless "Umm... we're working on it" (the classic Nintendo blow-off phrase) somehow means that they're deeply committed to making these add-ons.
Nintendo is so good at keeping a secret that folks like IGN accuse their PR people of using Jedi mind tricks. Their silence on the matter is no reason to believe Nintendo won't release this hardware in the very near future. If anything, the fact that they won't say a flat-out "no" means that it's on the way.
Nintendo's history with communication hardware for their systems goes back almost as far as Sega. The SNES had a satellite modem. The N64 had a 56k modem. Game Boy Color has a cell adapter. Why shouldn't we believe that we won't see a communications device for the GCN any time soon, especially since they were announced at the same time as the GameCube?
We've seen pictures of the hardware. We know of several games that will use the hardware. Just because Nintendo tends not to talk about future activities is no reason to believe they won't bring out the hardware in question. By your logic Nintendo has no intention of releasing any new games for the GameCube, since we've seen no release dates for the new Mario, Zelda, or Metroid games.
Not really. Sony has already announced their online strategy. Nintendo still refuses to answer questions about it. It's not like all they have to do is make the modem. They've done that. They have to give people someplace to connect to. As we've seen with a lot of the online PC games over the past two years, this isn't as easy as it sounds. If Nintendo hasn't even mentioned it yet, it's a long way off. We probably won't see the official FF line on the GC until at least 12. I guess it's possible they could surprise everyone at E3, but I'm guessing not. But what do I know?
Another reason XI probably won't come to the GC is the lack of hard drive. From what I hear, the PS2 version will require the hard drive add on for one reason or another. Probably because Sony sees it as a good way to get people to buy the thing.
My other
I just want to get this off my chest now so I can get a big "I told you so!" out a year from now.
Final Fantasy XI is going to be a flop.
Different RPGs rely on different things for their success. Phantasy Star has the Algol system. Mother/EarthBound has its aesthetics. Dragon Quest/Warrior has the whole medieval feel.
Final Fantasy relies on story and character development, focusing on group dynamics and such as the small party of heroes goes to save the world from some great cataclysm.
That cannot be translated to an MMORPG. MMORPGs rely entirely on the players for character development, and their very nature requires a lot of little quests for all the players to try out instead of one big quest that Final Fantasy is known for.
The things that make an MMORPG a success (namely the universe) doesn't really exist in the Final Fantasy series. There is no game universe, there are ten game universes to date. There are no common characters between the games, each game introduces new characters. There are few if any monsters common to all the games. The only real constants in the games are chocobos, moogles, spells, and some guy named Cid (who may or may not be a party member, depending on the game).
Final Fantasy XI will be a flop because it will be a Final Fantasy game in name only. There will be some nifty new mechanic for character development (the shiney new job/esper/materia/GF/whatever system), familar spells, chocobos, moogles, and... not much more.
About the only way I could see this working is if they take the universes of all the ten previous games and somehow connect them. Have a student from Balamb Garden explore Baron. A character born and raised in Coneria seeing the sights of Midgar. But even that would be a big departure from the previous games because they were never meant to be connected.
So don't say I didn't warn you.
You know, Phantasy Star Online ver. 2 will also be available on all three consoles...
As far as I'm concerned, FF XI is a red herring. What I'm dying to know is if FFI, FFII, and FFIII will be ported over to the GBA so I'll have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing those remakes.
And speaking of remakes, I seem to recall Square tossing about the idea of next-gen remakes of VII, VIII and IX. What's up with that? Can I play FFVII with a real soundtrack instead of MIDIs?
And while the PSX releases of VI, V and VI were OK, they really didn't add much more to the Super Famicom versions. How about giving those games a 32-bit make-over like what was done to I, II and III for the WonderSwan Color? After all, the GBA is God's gift to 2-D...
I bought my GBA a few months ago to have something to do on the train commuting when I'm on a brain dead day. The link-up capacity really intrigued me.
:) ($50 - Sonic 2, $10 - link cable, $40 - Sonic Advanced)...
My friend got Sonic 2 for the GCN, and I got Sonic Advanced for the GBA (both games kick ass, BTW, and I have Sonic 2 as well now).
I figured, I really want to see the link-capability, and what's $100 for that...
It's really cool. Both games feature fun Sonic action (the GCN game is a decent transition of Sonic from 2D->3D, though not as good as Mario 64 was, and Sonic Advanced is fresh Sonic fun).
However, you can move Chao, the creatures from the minigame, between the systems. It sounds really dumb, but it works nicely. You get to play the game as normal, but as an added bonus you can to convert your accomplishments into little animals that you can compete with.
I really feel that RPGs will see the greatest benefit from the link-up, with Pokemon being an obvious example. You can train your Pokemon in your hand-held RPG, then compete with your friends on the TV instead of on the hand-helds.
In a more "adult" setting, I'd really like to see an "American" RPG (more character driven, not collections of cut-scenes). I mean, supposedly Camelot is releasing a Golden Sun game on the GCN that will let you bring your Golden Sun character into it, and other games could do it too.
I love Sonic, but part of the reason that the Sonic games dominate my gaming time is the link-up. I can play Sonic at home or on the road, it's Sonic everywhere.
In Final Fantasy... wow!
Alex
I'll believe that nonsense about better graphics and more gameplay when the games aren't VAPOR!
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
So you take your Xbox to bed with you and read those magazine previews to get you all hot & sweaty.. I'm too busy ACTUALLY PLAYING the games that YOU WISH YOU WERE.
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
I play Tony Hawk online with my ps2. All I had to do was buy a USB ethenet device. I bought a generic linksys, plugged it in and now I can play online. I even have my wireless logitech keyboard plugged into the other usb port to talk to people while i'm playing tony hawk.
Joseph Elwell.